Jo Yurcaba
@joyurcaba.bsky.social
NBC News reporter covering the LGBTQ+ community. DMs open; email Jo.Yurcaba@nbcuni.com; Signal @joyurcaba.91 Pronouns: they/them
If you read anything right now, I need you to read this devastating piece by my incredible friend about the toll anti-trans laws and rhetoric take on children, namely one young girl named May. @joyurcaba.bsky.social. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Idaho pushed anti-trans laws for years. Then a teen died.
The life and death of May Pollard, 16, provides a window into the tragic effect that legislation and political rhetoric have had on trans people in America.
nbcnews.com
A father in Idaho, speaking to police after his child died by suicide: “There is a huge amount of animosity, every single day, thrown at trans kids. The whole fucking country. The whole fucking administration, every single fucking day.” Please read this important story by @joyurcaba.bsky.social
Idaho pushed anti-trans laws for years. Then a teen died.
The life and death of May Pollard, 16, provides a window into the tragic effect that legislation and political rhetoric have had on trans people in America.
nbcnews.com
Content warning: suicide After May Pollard died on a late-January morning, a detective asked her parents a question: Had anyone wanted to hurt her? “A lot of America,” her mother answered. 1/ www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Idaho pushed anti-trans laws for years. Then a teen died.
The life and death of May Pollard, 16, provides a window into the tragic effect that legislation and political rhetoric have had on trans people in America.
nbcnews.com
Congress granted funds to restore 988 services for LGBTQ+ youth months ago. But it's still gone. Here's what it looks like when a service like this is ended; almost 70,000 people reaching out for help, then a cliff.
“I wasn’t playing girls’ soccer because I couldn’t handle it on the boys team — I was playing girls’ soccer because that’s where my friends were and that’s where I felt comfortable, and that’s where I belong.” www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup... via @joyurcaba.bsky.social
For trans student-athletes, the Supreme Court’s ruling is just the latest blow
Amid a drumbeat of state and federal policies restricting transgender rights, the court’s decision left some trans athletes and their advocates angry and afraid.
nbcnews.com
This special report on how Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ changed America ( by @spettypi.bsky.social and @mikehixenbaugh.com ) has a lot of #dataViz in it, is deeply reported and is *not* behind the NBC News paywall (though that will change soon). [no paywall for now] www.nbcnews.com/specials/tru...
How Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ changed America
President Donald Trump signed his “big, beautiful bill” a year ago. It unleashed the biggest ever rollback of federal programs serving the poor, while extending trillions of dollars in tax breaks disp...
nbcnews.com
One year after Trump signed his “big, beautiful bill,” it has begun reshaping the country. At least 4 million people have lost food stamps. Millions more will lose healthcare. Refugees and other legal immigrants are getting kicked off the safety net. And the wealthiest Americans have gotten richer.
How Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ changed America
President Donald Trump signed his “big, beautiful bill” a year ago. It unleashed the biggest ever rollback of federal programs serving the poor, while extending trillions of dollars in tax breaks disp...
nbcnews.com
A very cool story by Kate Sosin at @19thnews.org. Also, go Rose City! 19thnews.org/2026/06/roll...
Roller derby was already queer-friendly. Then it got more inclusive.
Years before trans athletes in sports embroiled national politics, roller derby — the five-player high-contact sport with punk rock nicknames — tackled the question of who could play.
19thnews.org
NEW ESSAY: Origins of the Anti-Trans “Groomer” Slur. it provides historical context, a timeline of how it spread, & how it shapes anti-trans/LGBTQ legislation. pls share! on Medium (friend link): juliaserano.medium.com/origins-of-t... & Substack (no paywall): juliaserano.substack.com/p/origins-of...
Origins of the Anti-Trans “Groomer” Slur
a timeline, plus historical context and future implications
juliaserano.medium.com
Not for a story, but for me: Folks in the Portland, OR, area who are open to sharing, about how long did you have to wait for a top surgery consult and then for surgery? Just got some tough news about my wait times and looking at other options. DMs open if you don't want to respond publicly.
NEW: I wrote about the self-published book that is fueling a movement of parents demanding less screen time in schools -- and becoming a major headache for school administrators www.nbcnews.com/news/educati...
The book fueling a movement against screens in schools
“The Digital Delusion” connects the collapse in standardized test scores to the rise of education technology in public schools. It’s drawing a heated debate.
nbcnews.com
Transgender adults are losing health care under the Trump administration, @joyurcaba.bsky.social reports They asked the Heritage Foundation what its staff think of this, and their reply was, essentially, it's nbd www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
It’s not just kids: Trump’s crackdown on trans healthcare extends into adulthood
Conservatives have long argued they want to end transition care for minors, but federal policies have increasingly limited adult access. More restrictions are on the way.
nbcnews.com
Here's how the Trump administration is chipping away at transgender health care access for adults With more than 30 interviews with trans adults, treatment providers, conservative activists and trans rights activists over the last two months. For @nbcnews.com: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
It’s not just kids: Trump’s crackdown on trans healthcare extends into adulthood
Conservatives have long argued they want to end transition care for minors, but federal policies have increasingly limited adult access. More restrictions are on the way.
nbcnews.com
It’s not just kids: Trump’s crackdown on trans healthcare extends into adulthood.
It’s not just kids: Trump’s crackdown on trans healthcare extends into adulthood
Conservatives have long argued they want to end transition care for minors, but federal policies have increasingly limited adult access. More restrictions are on the way.
nbcnews.to
Here's how the Trump administration is chipping away at transgender health care access for adults With more than 30 interviews with trans adults, treatment providers, conservative activists and trans rights activists over the last two months. For @nbcnews.com: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
It’s not just kids: Trump’s crackdown on trans healthcare extends into adulthood
Conservatives have long argued they want to end transition care for minors, but federal policies have increasingly limited adult access. More restrictions are on the way.
nbcnews.com
Looking to connect with USPS employees and federal employees who are trans. DM me, email Jo.Yurcaba@nbcuni.com or Signal joyurcaba.91
For an article about the SAVE Act, I’m looking to speak with trans people about your experiences voting with identification that doesn’t match your gender expression. What issues have you faced? I’d also like to talk to folks who can’t update their birth certificates due to state law. DM me plz!
Talk to Adam about voting/birth certificate issues!
Adam Rhodes@byadamrhodes.bsky.social · 3mo agoFor an article about the SAVE Act, I’m looking to speak with trans people about your experiences voting with identification that doesn’t match your gender expression. What issues have you faced? I’d also like to talk to folks who can’t update their birth certificates due to state law. DM me plz!
I haven't been sharing much on here lately, and that is in part because I've been working on a big feature that should be out soon. But it's also because in February I started competing in gay rodeo. 🤠 1/
ICYMI: Texas Children’s will create ‘detransition clinic’ to settle DOJ and state investigation Advocates and doctors who treat trans youth are concerned about the precedent this sets as the DOJ continues investigating hospitals nationwide. For @nbcnews.com: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Texas Children’s will create ‘detransition clinic’ to settle DOJ and state investigation
The agreement ends a three-year battle over transgender healthcare at the country’s largest children’s hospital. Advocates for trans rights raised concerns about politics shaping medicine.
nbcnews.com
Dr. Morissa Ladinsky, who moved to California to continue practicing due to Alabama’s felony trans care ban for minors, worries about the precedent set by this clinic, which was "created by legal intimidation on terms set by politicians.” For @nbcnews.com: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
NEW: Seattle might declare a civil emergency to help LGBTQ (mostly trans) people fleeing red states, so I looked for a Texas angle. An organizer told me that Texas is #1 among trans people looking to relocate: "The baseline hostility to their existence is unbearable." www.chron.com/culture/arti...
So many LGBTQ Texans are moving to this city, it may declare an 'emergency'
Seattle is one of the many places that transgender Texans are resettling after fleeing their home state.
chron.com
@19thnews.org is hiring a contract climate reporter! We're looking for a reporter to spend three months covering climate's impact on women and LGBTQ+ people, including how it intersects with housing, child care and health. Share or apply here: 19thnews.org/2026/04/cont...
We're hiring a contract climate reporter
The 19th is seeking a full-time contract reporter to report, write and produce climate coverage, focusing on how politics and policies impact women and LGBTQ+ people.
19thnews.org
NEWS: The Idaho Senate vote could be as soon as this evening. At a committee hearing on Monday, senators allotted just 22 minutes for public testimony and heard from five speakers, three opposed to the bill and two in favor, despite far broader interest. www.advocate.com/politics/sta...
Idaho Senate Republicans rush toward passing transgender bathroom criminalization bill
The House-passed measure advanced to a full vote after a brief hearing in which lawmakers limited public committee testimony despite broad opposition.
advocate.com
“No child should be here, regardless of their condition,” Gael’s dad told me from Dilley last week. “Even for us as adults, it’s hard.” Now they’re on their way back to El Paso. Ms. Rachel had called for their release after meeting the family over zoom this month.
Nonverbal 5-year-old who met Ms. Rachel over Zoom is released from ICE detention
His parents, asylum-seekers from Colombia, said their son’s physical and emotional health deteriorated during the weeks they were held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas.
nbcnews.com
NEW: The 9-year-old who begged Ms. Rachel for help getting out of ICE detention so he could attend his spelling bee has now also been released from Dilley. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
9-year-old who pleaded to go to spelling bee released from ICE detention
Deiver Henao Jimenez told children’s entertainer Ms. Rachel that he wanted to leave Dilley Immigration Processing Center in South Texas in order to go to his state spelling bee.
nbcnews.com
I'm still speaking with trans adults about how their access to transition care has been affected by state and federal policies. We've created a form here for folks to give initial info. Nothing from this will be shared unless we talk about it in an interview. forms.office.com/r/cNDLuSjses
Microsoft Forms
forms.office.com
“I am political,” Ms. Rachel told me of her new effort to free kids from ICE detention. “It’s political to believe that children are worthy of love … and that our care shouldn’t stop at what we look like, our family, at our religion, at a border. Mr. Rogers was very political.”
I'd like to speak with trans adults (18+) whose access to transition care has changed due to state and/or federal policy changes. DM, email Jo.Yurcaba@nbcuni.com or Signal joyurcaba.91
